How similar is Shanghainese and Mandarin?

How similar is Shanghainese and Mandarin?

But, Shanghainese only shares 29\% lexical similarity with Mandarin to be precise, that is, 71\% of the words are different, including a lot of basic, everyday words – enough that with the pronunciation and tone differences Chinese speakers outside the Wu language family will be unable to communicate at all.

How similar are Chinese dialects?

To summarize, Chinese languages are very loosely related like Romance, for example Mandarin and Cantonese are like Italian and French, and even within Mandarin/Italian there are large differences between varieties (like Hebei vs Sichuan and Tuscan (standard) vs Sicilian). Don’t take the analogy too far!

Is Cantonese and Shanghainese similar?

Shanghainese is part of the larger Wu Chinese group of Chinese languages. It is not mutually intelligible with any dialects of Mandarin Chinese, or Cantonese, Southern Min (such as Hokkien-Taiwanese), and any other Chinese languages outside Wu. Modern Shanghainese, however, has been influenced by standard Chinese.

Is Shanghainese the same as Chinese?

Since Shanghai is in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the official language of the city is standard Mandarin Chinese, also known as Putonghua. However, the traditional language of the Shanghai region is Shanghainese, which is a dialect of Wu Chinese which is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin Chinese.

Is Shanghainese a dialect or language?

Wu Chinese
Shanghainese (上海閒話 [z̥ɑ̃̀héɦɛ̀ɦʊ̀] in Shanghainese), or the Shanghai language (simplified Chinese: 上海话 or 沪语; traditional Chinese: 上海話 or 滬語), is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in the city of Shanghai and the surrounding region. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages.

Is Shanghainese easier than Mandarin?

In recent decades Shanghainese has been significantly influenced by Mandarin. The variety spoken by many young generation Shanghainese would definitely be a lot easier to pick up (or at least to understand) than the more orthodox version spoken by the elders.

How intelligible are Chinese dialects?

Varieties spoken in the North (mainly Mandarin varieties) are more mutually intelligible among themselves and by Southern variety speakers, while Southern varieties (mainly non-Mandarin varieties) are more mutually unintelligible within and across dialectal boundaries.

Why are Chinese dialects not different languages?

Chinese languages are considered dialects partly because they happen to be written with the same writing system. The Chinese writing system is not based on the alphabet like English is, but it is based on pictures of concepts.

Is Shanghainese and Mandarin mutually intelligible?

Shanghainese, like other Wu dialects, is largely not mutually intelligible with other Chinese varieties such as Mandarin. The term “Shanghainese” in English sometimes refers to all Wu Chinese dialects, though it is only partially intelligible with some other subbranches of the Wu language group.

Is Shanghainese a dying language?

Shanghainese is a dying language, and despite the recent efforts to bring it back, I don’t think it will ever be the same again. Even in Shanghai, where the dialect originated, young people my age were never taught how to speak it. Starting in the 1990s, the government took initiative to standardize Mandarin.

Can Shanghainese speak Mandarin?

As a general rule, young people in Shanghai speak very standard Mandarin. This means the Shanghai language will vary depending on the situation you find yourself in. Some new arrivals to Shanghai learn to understand or even speak Shanghainese while others may go years only relying on Mandarin.

Is Shanghainese closer to Mandarin or Cantonese?

However, when I spent some efforts to actually learn the two languages, it became quite obvious that Shanghainese is closer to Mandarin and easier to learn.

Is the Shanghainese language similar to Mandarin Chinese?

Shanghainese is part of the larger Wu Chinese of Chinese languages. It is not mutually intelligible with any dialects of Mandarin Chinese, or Cantonese, Southern Min (such as Hokkien-Taiwanese), and any other Chinese languages outside Wu. Modern Shanghainese, however, has been heavily influenced by standard Chinese.

Is Shanghainese mutually intelligible with other languages?

Shanghainese is part of the larger Wu Chinese of Chinese languages. It is not mutually intelligible with any dialects of Mandarin Chinese, or Cantonese, Southern Min (such as Hokkien-Taiwanese), and any other Chinese languages outside Wu.

What differentiates Chinese dialects from languages?

This is the feature that differentiates dialects from languages. The standard Mandarin of Mainland China is based on the Beijing dialect, which is spoken in Beijing and the Beijing region. Almost every city in China has its own variation on standard Mandarin, and each of these could qualify as a Mandarin dialect.

How does Shanghainese tonal system differ from other Chinese languages?

The Shanghainese tonal system is also significantly different from other Chinese varieties, sharing more similarities with the Japanese pitch accent, with two level tonal contrasts (high and low), whereas Cantonese and Mandarin are typical of contour tonal languages .